The archipelago of Lamu is home to an old Swahili town of the same name.

​Along the coast, the Mombasa Republican Council has been making inroads.

​Kenya's minister for tourism, the Hon. Najib Balala, visits Lamu to reassure business owners following the kidnapping of a French national from the island of Manda in October 2011.

Tourism accounts for the vast majority of the archipelago's income, either directly through hoteliers and boat-owners, to fishermen who provide food to the thousands of tourists who visit annually.

​The coast is home to many of Kenya's Muslims, and maintains a strong Islamic identity.

Lamu muslims sit outside the old mosque in the town.

​Despite Lamu's idyllic setting, the archipelago is marred by poverty.

​Mombasa is an important trading hub for East Africa, and the mixes development with tradition.

In late October 2012, police raided the house of Omar Faraj, who they claimed was a 'terror suspect' linked to radical islam. Neighbours described three hours of intermittent shooting by the police, against an un-​armed Faraj who died in the raid.

Khelef Khalifa is the director of Muslims for Human Rights, "Muhuri", and campaigns against what he describes as extra-legal killings perpetrated by the Kenyan police.

​Mr. Faraj's family began a period of mourning following the killing.

Ali Mohamed Musa (30), is the brother of the late Aboud Rogo. Mr. Rogo, a Kenyan radical Islamic cleric who was on United States' and United Nations' sanctions lists for alleged support of al-Shebab, the Somali al-Qaeda linked militants, was killed in a drive-by shooting which Mr. Musa says was orchestrated by the police.

Muslims enter the Mussa mosque in Mombasa, where the late Aboud Rogo, a Muslim cleric, delivered a weekly lecture, and is where his body was brought following his assassination on August 27, 2012.

​A fire burns on the beach of one of Lamu's islands. Fear of terrorist attacks has had a significant impact on the coast's tourism industry.